A Film Review of “ A Quiet Place”
Charlize Theron on Racism in the US
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Los Angeles
Volume 33 Number 25
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
NAACP on The Fair Housing Act: Starbucks & Climate of Racism
50 Years Later
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Rams to Host Chiefs on Monday Night Football
Rams-Chiefs matchup scheduled for Nov. 19 at 5:15 p.m. PT LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Rams will host a Monday Night Football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 19 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, the team announced today. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. (Pacific Time) and will be televised by ESPN in the United States. Monday Night Football will feature the Rams for the 60th time in the franchise’s history (27-32 overall record), with L.A.’s last appearance taking place during the 2016 season (at San Francisco, Week 1). The international contest also marks the Rams’ first regular-season game in Mexico and their first time ever facing the Chiefs in a primetime matchup. Los Angeles will announce the remainder of their 2018 schedule on Thursday, April 19 at 5 p.m. (Pacific Time). For more information, please contact a member of the Los Angeles Rams communications department.
City to Pay $2.6M to Family of Vet Killed by Police NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson says that the Starbucks situation provides dangerous insight regarding the failure of our nation to take implicit bias seriously. (NAACP)
BALTIMORE, Md.—The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s premier civil rights organization, issued the following statement following the disgraceful arrest of two African American men in a Philadelphia Starbucks. “The arrest of two Black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks represents another ominous signal of the increasingly dangerous environment for African Americans. Less than two weeks after we honor the life and work of Dr. King and 50 years after the Kerner Commission found racism and police brutality at the root of public unrest in our communities, we still have a long way to go towards becoming a nation where a person is judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. “The Starbucks situation provides dangerous insight regarding the failure of our nation to take implicit bias seriously. We refuse to believe that our unconscious bias—the racism we are often unaware of—can and does make its way into our actions and policies. “We know if two Black men in Philadelphia require six police officers to handcuff and arrest them for waiting to order coffee, then we begin to understand the mind state that allows for such overzealous and reactionary use of deadly force by those who are paid to serve and protect. “Every day people of color find themselves at the mercy of the stereotypes and embedded fears of others. How else can we explain why 14-year-old Brennan Walker who missed his bus on his way to school would be shot at by a homeowner just outside Detroit? Or explain Saheed Vassell, a mentally-ill man in Brooklyn fired at ten times and shot dead by police officers. Or why Stephon Clark was shot at 20 times and hit 8 times, mainly in the back, by police officers in Sacramento, based on the assumption that he was the culprit responsible for breaking into cars. We are at least glad in the case of Starbucks that no one mistook a wallet for a gun. “All too often these issues are discussed in passing episodic ways by media. Racism and biases that make simply breathing while Black so dangerous will not just go away without our society committing more resources to discussion, education and training on implicit bias and racism. If we refuse to, we’ll continue to face the consequences of our failure to do so.”
—Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO
By Christopher G. Cox Publisher/Managing Editor realesavvy.com One of the signature achievements of the Civil Rights Era was the passage by Congress in April of 1968 of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), also known as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Looking back on this historic legislative accomplishment, Majurial “MJ” Watkins, president of the Charlotte Crown Realist Association (CCRA), said that the FHA clearly played a role in helping to make certain that minority buyers and renters would not be discriminated against by sellers, landlords and financial institutions. “While we acknowledge that the Fair Housing Act has helped to prevent discrimination in housing,” Watkins said, “there is still work to be done.” Unfortunately, she added, some potential Black homeowners are still being treated unfairly in the housing market. The CCRA is local chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) and counts among its members professionals in virtually every sector of real estate, including brokers, mortgage originators, real estate attorneys, appraisers and many others. “Our focus extends well beyond the city of Charlotte,” Watkins explained, “to include neighborhoods throughout greater Charlotte and even to nearby communities such as Rock Hill, which is in South Carolina.” Watkins credits the FHA with playing a significant role in helping African American home ownership reach an all-time high of 49 percent in the period between 2004 and 2005. “Unfortunately, since then it has fallen to about 42 percent,” Watkins said. That’s why her organization continues to emphasize education, financing and other resources, she added. CCRA’s mission is to create “Democracy in Housing” with a goal of increasing Black home ownership by 2 million in the next five years. “Ultimately,” Watkins said, “our vision is to see Black wealth rebuilt through home ownership.” James Perry, president and CEO of the Winston-Salem Urban League, also said that he believes that the FHA has played an important role in fighting housing discrimination, but like Wat-
Christopher G. Cox, the publisher and managing editor of realesavvy.com writes about the impact of the Fair Housing Act. (Realesavvy.com)
kins, Perry said that even 50 years after its passage discrimination remains a problem. “In fact,” Perry said, “if you measure discrimination by how many segregated communities there are in the United States now compared to how many there were 50 years ago, there hasn’t been much progress.” He noted that in most cities many neighborhoods remain largely Black, largely Latino or largely White. While there might be less overt discrimination today, Perry said, it is more difficult for minorities to know when they are being subtly discriminated against. He pointed to the importance of a Supreme Court case (Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman) decided in 1982 that made it easier to determine when discrimination exists by allowing fair housing organizations to send in “testers.” This is a practice whereby individuals with similar backgrounds, but of different races, answer ads for properties for sale or rent. When minorities are declined, or are offered less attractive terms than Whites, “testing” can help to support a case for discrimination. Perry noted that a strong impetus for the passage of the FHA in 1968 was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just days before the act was passed by Congress. “Dr. King had been a strong supporter of the Fair Housing Act, openly pushing for it in Chicago in 1967,” Perry said. “Some politicians viewed voting for the act as a way to quell the riots that erupted in the wake of his assassination.”
1 Dead, 11 Treated for Overdoses at CA Prison SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ Suspected drug overdoses at a Northern California prison over the weekend left an inmate dead and sent 11 others for treatment, authorities said Monday. An inmate was found unresponsive in his cell Sunday at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione and despite lifesaving efforts was pronounced dead later that evening, according to a statement from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Another inmate was treated at the prison and 10 others were taken to hospitals, although eight have since returned to the lockup. Authorities didn't say what drug they suspect caused the overdoses. However, the cells where they occurred have been sealed and are being cleaned by a hazardous materials team. Authorities are trying to determine how the drugs were smuggled into the prison. Prison officials are limiting the movements of prisoners and medical and prison staff members are conducting wellness checks throughout the facility every 30 minutes, according to the statement. Prison officials began a program in 2014 to combat pervasive drug-smuggling that gave California an overdose fatality rate three times the national average. The number of overdose deaths peaked at 24 in 2013 and has since fallen to 19 per year among
the state's prison population of about 130,000. As of last year, the state had spent some $15 million to thwart prison drug smuggling through increased surveillance using cameras, urine tests, drug-sniffing dogs and airport-style scanners. Even so, smuggled drugs continue to be a problem, whether passed by corrupt guards, tossed over fences or concealed in the mouths of visitors. A public report last year found mixed results from the efforts. It said about 8 percent of inmates tested positive for drugs in random testing over a six-month period beginning in July 2014. Opiates, methamphetamines and marijuana were most commonly detected. The study also said guards found illegal drugs about 5,000 times from May 2015 to February 2016 alone, and some drugs were even found at San Quentin's death row. The seized drugs included methamphetamine in a bar of soap, drugs hidden in housing unit shower drains and marijuana in a refrigerator and a trash bin near a visitors' center. Visitors were caught concealing drugs in their mouths or body cavities, and passing drugs to inmates in snack packages consumed in visiting rooms.
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MODESTO, Calif. (AP) _ A Northern California city has agreed to pay $2.65 million to the family of a mentally ill Gulf War veteran fatally shot by police in 2014 after his family called 911. The Sacramento Bee reports Tuesday the agreement between the city of Lodi and the family of Parminder Singh Shergill settles a federal lawsuit the family filed accusing the officers of excessive force. Shergill was killed after his sister-in-law called 911 and said he was a paranoid schizophrenic who was “going crazy’’ and was attacking his mother. Shergill’s family says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after participating in Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s. Officers fatally shot Shergill as he walked through his neighborhood after they said he charged at them with a knife. Shergill’s family disputes that account.
Misdemeanor Charges Filed Against Brother
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ Prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges of assault and vandalism against the brother of an unarmed black man who was killed by Sacramento officers last month. Sacramento County prosecutors filed the counts Monday against Stevante Clark that could bring less than a year in jail if he is convicted. Prosecutors are inviting him to participate in a mental health court as a way to have the charges dismissed. Sacramento police had sought more serious felony charges stemming from a dispute between the 25-year-old Clark and his landlords. He’s been released and is seeking his own lawyer. Prosecutors also charged Clark with criminal threats and abusing a 911 emergency line, both misdemeanors. Clark is the brother of Stephon Clark, who was killed when police say he approached them with a cellphone they mistook for a gun.
Ellen DeGeneres is Critical of Police Shootings LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Ellen DeGeneres says she’s “furious’’ that so many black men have been shot by police and “nothing seems to change.’’ Speaking with CNN’s Van Jones on her show on Friday, DeGeneres said she’s “ashamed.’’ Jones said “it’s not just the police.’’ He said that when he was at Yale University, students did drugs and were sent to rehab while black kids in a nearby project were sent to jail for doing the same thing. Jones said there’s “some malware glitch going on in our brains’’ when it comes to gun violence and racial inequality in America.
Cal Poly SLO Suspends All Frats/Sororities SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) _ A California state university has suspended all fraternities and sororities after photos surfaced showing a fraternity member in blackface and others dressed up as gang members. Jeffrey D. Armstrong, president of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, announced the action Tuesday. The university had previously suspended one fraternity involved in the blackface incident. Armstrong says he took the wider action after learning of “another incident of racial profiling and cultural appropriation’’ involving a second fraternity. Among measures, Armstrong says the university is hiring an independent African-American diversity and inclusion specialist to work with administration, faculty, staff and students. Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier said in an email to The Tribune newspaper the suspension also involves wider problems that Greek organizations have been involved in over the past few years.